British India

Declan Melia (guitar, vocals) Nic Wilson (guitar), Matt O'Gorman (drums), and Will Drummond (bass), were all teenagers when they formed British India, naming themselves after a B-side by psychedelic rock band Strawberry Alarm Clock. They started with acoustic covers of Blur and Bob Dylan before moving to droning electric dirges and violently energetic stage jams. Their stage presence briefly made them darlings of the street press while they shuttled back and forth between gigs in Melbourne and Sydney. Eventually they came to the attention of Harry Vanda, former guitarist in '60s rock icons the Easybeats, then helping independent acts record in his private studio, Flashpoint Music. With Vanda they recorded an EP called Counter Culture. Released on Shock Records, it was a dry run for the album they would record with him next. Unable to close a deal with a label they were satisfied with, their debut album, Guillotine, also became the first release for Flashpoint Records — Vanda creating the label solely for the band. It didn't disappoint, charting in the Top Five and having its single "Tie Up My Hands" make the JJJ Hottest 100 in 2007. The follow-up album, Thieves, which they had worked on while trying to find a way to release Guillotine, came out in 2008.